My Hero Romance: Chapter Fifteen
{| Chapter Fifteen Katsuko sat in the lounge, working on a new passage in her notebook. She had gotten a new one to mark her new journey in a life that was completely her own. It gave her a sense of pride to be able to do something on her own without a shadow hanging over her like a ghost. Everyone else was preparing for the sports festival tomorrow morning so she had the much needed solitude from the students. It felt great to spend what little time she had working on this little book of hers. "I thought I'd find you here." She new his voice without even looking up. "Back to writing in that notebook, I see." "I got a new one. I'm writing about other things now. Like how Small Might is small compared to All Might, those kinds of things." She teased, setting the book to the side. "Did you come here for something?" He shook his head and approached her. "You don't seem all that happy about defeating Akihisa. I would think that you would at least be out celebrating rather than sticking around here." He shrugged. "I have no one to celebrate with, silly. Besides, I'm fine with staying here." She shrugged loosely before patting the seat besides her. "I don't drink so celebrations aren't fun when I'm around." "Don't say that. It takes guts to remain sober." He sat besides her with an 'oomph' before getting cozy. "How's Beanie doing?" "Oh...she's a little sick now, but she'll get better! Just a little stomachache is all." She smiled at the thought of her favorite cat before looking at him. "The offer is still open if you want the spare key to visit them, you know. I don't always have time to check in on them and I'm sure they'd love to see you again!" "Are you sure? I mean, what if someone sees me walking in or something and assume I'm your boyfriend and try to hurt you?" He raised his eyebrows. "I don't think it's really all that safe." "I can look after myself, Toshinori. Thank you for worrying." She patted his head and tilted her head, choosing to ignore the boyfriend comment. "I'm glad you're worrying for me. You're my second Mom since mine is back home. Is that okay with you Mom?" He couldn't help the light chuckle that fell from his lips. "I like this new Katsuko. She speaks what's on her mind." She blushed and looked down. "I don't speak my mind. If I did, I would say something I shouldn't." She looked away. "Though you already know what I'm talking about." He sighed. "I know you aren't trying to force me to give you an answer on whether or not I share your feelings, but it really seems like it." It sounded as if he was trying to make the right word choices, clear that he might hurt her feelings. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry. I'll stop talking about that then." She nodded and with that, went back to looking the other way, not meeting his eyes. "What did you do with that letter? You can get rid of it. It doesn't really hold any meaning now that I'm here. It was a stupid letter that was longer than it had to be." "Katsuko, stop putting yourself down." He placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "That letter was perfectly fine, okay? I don't understand why you say it isn't." "I've got all these feelings that I don't know what to do with." She shook her head, biting her lip. "I've got these feelings that I want to go away so no one is bothered by them. These feelings can hinder me, I don't want people to be hurt, Toshinori. I don't want them to suffer because I fell in love or because I've gone soft. I don't want these feelings, Toshinori. I feel suffocated by them." Toshinori was quiet for a long moment before humming. "Why do you always assume you'll hurt someone?" He seemed at a loss for other motivational words, something that was unusual, even while in his true form. "I'm sorry for being such a basket case." Katsuko stood up and gathered her stuff. "I shouldn't be bothering you with stupid things like that. I'm sorry for always bringing up my feelings. I...I should go." Toshinori would've grabbed her arm if she had not pulled them tight against her chest. It hurt to be so helpless when your friend was upset and broken like Katsuko was. She struggled with her last life and now she was struggling with this once, except now, she was afraid to step over boundaries, boundaries she set up to keep herself from hurting anyone. It hurt him to see her be so withdrawn, to fear her own feelings in fear of ruining things. He wanted to reach out and hold her, to at least comfort her until he had an answer for her, for her love. He knew Katsuko was trying to save herself from the pain of stepping over a boundary and hurting someone she didn't want to hurt. She was trying hard to get used to this, to get used to a life of freedom. It was hard for her to do it alone, but she was afraid of saying something she'd regret. She was suffering alone and Toshinori just couldn't do that to her. He refused to let her do such a stupid thing, be it All Might speaking or Toshinori, he wasn't going to stand by and watch her say something before quickly taking it back. He went after her, searching for where she could have gone. She was out in the city when he found her, sitting on a bench that faced a cherry blossom. "Let me help you, Katsuko." He panted, running over to stand in front of her, arms on either side of her head on the back of the bench to prevent her from moving. "We're friends. That's what friend's do." Her eyes widened and glistened in the light of the street lamps. "Toshinori..." She murmured, eyes sparkling slightly. "Did you...did you run all this way?" "Doesn't matter." He shook his head and spit out some blood, careful to avoid getting it on her. "What does matter is that I want to help you, Katsuko. I need to be here with you, I mean, I need to be a better friend and for that, I want to help you." He was quiet as he finished what he was saying. "So...you want that spare key?" She raised an eyebrow. He stepped back and blood rushed from his mouth. "Is that seriously all you have to say?!"